A Taste of Ootoro
by Neverender
Summary: With the fabled fancy tuna on the tip of her tongue, Haruhi celebrates the wonders of the Arctic circle with the Host Club, but gets more than just fish in this tale.


Of all of Tamaki Suoh's plans, this one was easily the most ridiculous. Opening the door to Music Room 3, Haruhi Fujioka was greeted quite differently. Instead of the usual rose petals and blinding light that hit her on the way in, she was met by a flurry of snowflakes and a rush of cold air.

"Hello, Haruhi," Tamaki greeted, bent on one knee as the rest of the famous Host Club was gathered around him, all wearing tuxedos and…

_Ice skates?_ Haruhi asked herself in puzzlement, completely missing the rest of Tamaki's greeting, which was completed with a warm "Welcome to our winter wonderland."

Before Tamaki could go off on a tangent, Kyouya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tamaki, I believe Haruhi is confused as to what's going on."

"Of course. Haruhi, come over here!" Tamaki called, suddenly smiling.

"Tamaki, I don't that's a good—" Before Kyouya could stop Haruhi, she was sliding face-first towards them, knocking the entire Host Club onto their rears.

"What's with the floor?!" Haruhi shouted as she reached the top of the pile.

"I'm glad you asked!" Tamaki declared dramatically, exploding from the jumble. Skating to the side of the room, he turned on a flatscreen TV that was not there the day before and flipped to a nature channel. "When I broke my leg after those shady twins's Hosting On Stilts idea went awry, I was confined to my room for a few days. To pass the time, I started watching nature shows, particularly ones on the Arctic Circle. One of the things I noticed was the majestic penguins. I admire how they glide through the water so gracefully, like they're flying in a…" While Tamaki kept going on about the grand beauty that is the penguin, the rest of the Host Club untangled themselves from the mess of bodies and stumble back onto her feet. "…so I decided to cover the floor of the Music Room in ice and have an Arctic Animal Host Club Cosplay! And you'll love the outfit I picked out for my precious little girl!"

The twins shook their heads at the sight of the skin-tight penguin suit, which they were sure had looked absolutely stunning in Tamaki's imagination, and watched it sail through the air back at him.

"Don't worry, I took the liberty of ordering an extra pair of skates and a tuxedo for you, Haruhi," Kyouya reassured her.

"We'll help her dress!" the twins declared, taking a confused Haruhi by her arms and skating away. Tamaki quickly skated after them, and ended up palling flat on his face faster. Moments later, they emerged, Haruhi wearing the day's costume.

"I apologize for Tamaki's sudden implementation of this ridiculous idea," Kyouya whispered, leaning against the changing room wall and jotting something unknown onto his clipboard. "You do know how to skate, right?"

"Um…it's been a while, but I think I can do it," she replied, wobbling slightly.

Before Kyouya could respond, a wide-eyed blond head peeked around the corner. "Is my little Haruhi ready, Mommy?"

"Yes, 'Daddy.' I don't believe the 'ruffians' touched or saw anything that would compromise her innocence," Kyouya insisted, not even turning his head to look at the pouty-faced young man.

"Wonderful! Then I shall give her the grand tour!" Tamaki declared, immediately perking up. He took Haruhi's hand and guided her around the Arctic-themed room, passing tiny, two-person igloos and ice block tables.

"Senpai…how are you able to keep it so cold in the middle of spring?" Haruhi asked.

"Some air conditioning system that Kyouya's father's company is selling. It's what keeps their indoor ski resort so cold," Tamaki explained, smiling. "How lucky I was to find out the resort's main module just came out of the repair shop a couple days ago!"

"Yeah…lucky," Haruhi remarked as she stared at the ceiling, trying to locate the air conditioning system, Tamaki still going on about the various decorations in their "winter wonderland" with the enthusiasm of a schoolboy showing off a new toy. She couldn't help but smile at him.

"…and this is our grand buffet, filled with many Arctic-themed foods." Haruhi's eyes scanned the buffet table, looking from the popsicles, to the ice cream cake that Mori was trying to keep Honey's face out of, to the…

"Senpai, why is there sushi on the table?" she asked.

"Why Haruhi, don't you know the main diet of penguins is raw fish? We have to be authentic and at one with nature for this to be as spectacular as I had imagined."

Haruhi rolled her eyes, almost certain that a wall of roses appeared behind him as he delivered his over-the-top explanation. "If you say so…" Out of the corner of her eye, a particular food item caught her eye. _Is that…fancy tuna?!_ Turning completely to face the sliver of fish, her eyes sparkled. A forbidden taste experience she tried to deny to her fellow Host Club members, the fancy tuna had eluded her for so long, but this time, it would be hers. Picking up a pair of chopsticks, she inched towards the shimmering palette of pink flesh, but in an instant found it out of her grasp, two light red heads passing by her in a blur.

"You have to work for your ootoro, Haruhi!" the twins chirped, skating away hand in hand.

"Wait a second!" she shouted, starting after them. The twins led her on a high speed chase around the music room, around poles and igloos, past Mori and Honey (who could apparently still enjoy his cake even in such cold weather) and right towards Kyouya. Before either he or Haruhi could notice, the twins split around Kyouya, sending her on an inevitable crash course.

When the smoke cleared, the entire Host Club fell silent. As Haruhi's eyes adjusted, she could see brown eyes of a certain Host Club member staring back, feeling the sesation of his lips on hers. Pulling back sharply, Haruhi threw herself off of Kyouya, who did everything he could to hide his satisfied smirk.

In the farthest corner of the room, Kaoru and Hikaru tended to their shell-shocked leader. "Well, boss, it looks like Haruhi finally got to taste some Ootori!"


End file.
